Lonliness

Oni Gallegos

ARTIST STATEMENT

This piece of art titled Loneliness corresponds to my concentration, which I have decided to call My Monsters and Me. With each piece of art I create, there is a monster developed into symbols to express my feelings that I have on the inside. The monsters show through mainly more negative connotations, because I have had a rough, depressive past year. I feel that there is more to be said when a piece of art has a specific heart-felt connection towards myself, making it easier for those viewing it to connect with me and understand the pain through the picture. Loneliness, being the first piece to my collection for My Monsters and Me, was drawn to convey a more basic feeling that I experience quite often; one that many have felt at some time in their life; loneliness. I wanted a simple piece and I wanted to visually make the image as if the white figure sitting alone on the bench was me in an isolated area oblivious to anyone walking by. Loneliness visually seems to be a simple, ineffective feeling that occurs within oneself, that is, to others. For that person in a secured alone state, where it’s as though there’s nothing they can do, see the world around them from a whole different perspective. Sometimes I feel as though I’m invisible and it truly feels as though others lives are so important that no one has the time to stop and ask if I’m okay. Abandonment creeps in, and it’s as if, like shown in the picture using only graphite pencils, that there’s no color; no emotion. Being in a state of seclusion, like the white creature, in real life feels as though there’s nothing to feel, so all colors of any kind just seem to fade and you’re left with that empty thought of nothing. Physically you feel nothing and mentally you feel nothing. Visually nothing goes black, but everything goes white, and you’re alone. Alone, yet surrounded by so many people. It’s strange to feel invisible when you know for a fact you’re physically there and anyone could touch you. In Loneliness, those around me are too busy with their daily lives to even register that I am human, and I am there. So maybe they see me as a monster then. If I we’re being viewed as this isolated monster, I would characterize myself as this uncomplicated white figure. The figure looks approachable, for it is not ugly, just plain. The creature is utterly vulnerable, yet reserved in hopes of getting touched with some sort of sympathetic gesture, or just noticed even the slightest bit. No one stops, though. The world just continues on around the lonely creature inside me, and I’m left between the busy rush hours of the day and the inability of any movement from my secluded seat to wander on with everyone else. Yet, somehow, I find solitude and contentment in being alone sometimes, like Loneliness. And I think that’s beautiful. ​